Unorthodox Christianity: One Person's Truth...

By Carol Harper

I've been bombarded by folks on both sides of the religious/spiritual spectrums...tribal and Christian...on the Foundations for Nations controversy going on in my tribe right now, and there was a particular comment exchange between a friend of mine on County 10. Rather than continue it on their platform, I thought I would do it here.

My friend's comment: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and the days to come. Never forget we needed a Savior. No man comes to the Father except through Jesus. Where have we missed this basic truth? If it's not Christ centered, then it's idolatry, plain and simple. Native America doesn't get their own God-nobody gets to build their own path. How hard is that to understand?

My response: Quick history lesson: America is stolen land. Genocide of the Native peoples happened. Many Christians were the worst perpetrators. I know it's something a lot of folks don't want to be reminded of, but it happened. You can't change history. You cross over onto tribal lands? You are a GUEST of a sovereign nation. I agree with you about finding out if a church is truly Christ-centered, but even those who call themselves Christians have a difficult time with that. What Jesus? The Jesus that white supremeists use to burn crosses and hang people? The Jesus that calls Native people savages? The Jesus that turns into a corporate businessman? The Jesus that does a bait and switch? Seems to me Christianity has enough problems of its own to deal with before trying to tell others what to do and how to believe.

Systematic Belief vs. Faith

As children, we are programmed to believe what we are taught by our parents and if you go to church, that which is spoken at the pulpit. Most know my story about being adopted and raised in the LDS church. As a child, my family was very good at taking me out on the reservation to meet and visit with my family, but there came a time where they didn't want me to be confused, so the visits became few and far between.

In 1996, I left the LDS church. It was devastating. Over time, as I discovered the truth (that I had been worshipping an entirely different Jesus), I found myself in a state of grief for several years. It was as if everything I had ever known about anything was stripped from me. I went through shock, denial, rationalization, anger, deep depression...and finally acceptance. My marriage fell apart, my children were confused. Why did God do this to me? Do I curse God and just die this spiritual death?

The latter wasn't an option for me, so I began a study and exploration of world religions. I started with Zen Buddhism and went from there. I explored Hinduism, Islam...even Wiccan. I took a college course on the history of Christianity and its denominational evolution. I read the Bible with fresh eyes. I replaced my grief with a desire to learn and understand. I visited other churches, even became a music director for a few of them. And at the same time, there were certain 'freedoms' that I had never experienced before. I tasted wine, beer, and coffee for the very first time. My circles of friends changed; relationships changed. In a nutshell, let's just say that wisdom is gained over the passage of time.

Faith and Trust go hand in hand

When I came back home here to Riverton, I had finished a 35-year long career as a music director, and with it, my church days ended. Not entirely (I'll visit a church from time to time), and not my relationship with God...but the church as an institution of systematic belief. Eventually, I learned (sometimes the hard way) that living a life of Faith, though downright scary in and of itself, has greatly benefited my soul. The sun rises and sets, and I'm grateful that God gives me another day of life.

I wouldn't wish the grief of leaving a church or religion on anyone. It was a horrible experience. Finding out the truth about the LDS church took a deprogramming process that came with great sorrow. It has taken a very long time to learn discernment, how to trust anyone or anything again. I still have problems with it, because several times I've been too trusting and naive when it comes to wolves in sheep's clothing. But in retrospect, I've also learned that God has had to give me a good ass-kicking once in a while to get me on the path that is according to His will and not my own.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and He shall direct your paths."

Proverbs 3: 5-6

As a believer in Jesus, I pretty much stick to the Gospels. What did Jesus say about it? What did Jesus do about it? There are so many stories and parables He taught...simple, yet powerful. And yes, I know; there those who like to debunk the Bible. Even Christians use and abuse it. But sandwiched in between the Old Testament and the New is the story of a Man who saw a world on the path of destruction and brought Light.

So what did that world do, in true human style? Crucified him. Started a religion. Continued the division, wars, and battles, but this time, we have a banner to wave, the supreme idol to worship, lands and people to conquer and kill in his name, opportunities to control, churches and temples to build, sermons to write, scriptures to interpret and politically twist; movies, videos, and reels to produce, stocks in the marketplace...

Then Jesus went into the temple of God

and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple,

and overturned the tables of the money changers

and the seats of those who sold doves.

And He said to them, "It is written:

'My house shall be called a house of prayer,

but you have made it a den of thieves.'"

Matthew 21:12-13

My tribe has a Lodge of prayer and fasting, for tribal members only. There are also believers in Christ who attend Sundance. Prayer is direct communication, a very deep, personal, sacred time with your Creator, worshipping in spirit and in truth. Earth to Sky. Sound familiar? God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. How you do that is none of anyone else's business. It is your spirit communing with The Great Spirit.

So who is anyone to judge and say: "You're doing it wrong"? That's what the LDS church did to me. I was programmed to believe that theirs is the one true church on the face of the earth, and that you have to believe in all of their prophets, and that the Book of Mormon (which is a false history of Native Americans) is true scripture from God. Sign the dotted line. Terms and conditions apply. Pay ten percent of your income. There are good people who have been very misled since 1820 when Joseph Smith had his "vision" where two gods/personages appeared to him (which is polytheism, by the way). One man's truth is another man's lie.

Anything can be an addiction, including religion or system of belief. Alcohol might make you 'feel better' short term, but the effects on your mind and body? Poison. You have doctors playing God with prescription drugs and medications with small print side effect disclaimers, some of which include death (um, death is not a side effect). There's a big difference between drugs and true medicine. We've had pastors, priests, and kings playing God, speaking for God, prideful in thinking they know the mind of God, doing the will of God and the work of Jesus. Again, which Jesus are you referring to?

Some might think I'm being disrespectful, calling out the LDS church, comparing it to the situation now with Foundations for Nations. No, it's simply telling the truth. I see what's going on in my tribe now, and there are even tribal members who have sneered and mocked me and tell me that I'm not a "true Arapaho"...after all, what does she know, she's a half-breed. (Wait, isn't that disrespectful to say as well?) But I understand why they'd say that; many still don't know me. If they did, they'd know that I only say these things because I care. All they know is that they're hurt and angry...the same way I felt when I discovered the truth. And the truth hurts! But sometimes it might take that 'ass-kicking' that is needed these days...to look up from our screens, break the gossip circles, open our eyes, and be truly aware of all the narratives we're being fed. A little knowledge and a little humility would do us all some good.

I just think that, maybe it's time to get back to the basics with our child-like faith. That is why I love Jesus' simple stories and parables. There's a reason why He is called the Light of the World. That is why I love the stories I've been told by the Storytellers and Elders of our tribe. It is good medicine for my soul, and I still have so much to learn from them. Love, truth, and wisdom rings true with ALL tribes and peoples of the world. Love God, love your neighbors, even love your enemies. We haven't even learned how to love each other! So what business do any of us have, lecturing or casting stones about what is or isn't? If you don't have love, you have nothing. Nothing. No matter the religion or your beliefs, they are empty if you don't have love. Maybe it's time for some monumental, paradoxical do-overs.

I have a dear, wise friend who had helped me through my transition moving from Nashville back to California. She said: "Make a plan. Stick to the plan. Do not deviate from the plan." The journey through Life is yours. Your own body is a temple. The Creator has always had a plan for each of us, since the day we were born, a path for each of us to walk. Who will we listen to? There is so much hypocrisy, so many distractions, so many blind guides and white lies, so much confusion...it shouldn't be unconscionable for anyone to question words spoken from any platform or pulpit.

God is the Creator of the entire Universe. The world is changing at such a rapid pace. Lies uncovered, truths discovered. Lamps are being trimmed (Matthew 25: 1-13), the stage is being set. Keep watch and continue to pray, whenever and however you choose. Do it in spirit and in truth.

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."

James 1:19

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

Philippians 1:9-10

"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

Matthew 24:4-8

"We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

Crazy Horse

"The white man did not kill my son. Whiskey killed him."

Chief Washakie

"You must not get drunk; it is a great sin...But you must not drink one drop of whiskey. It is the drink of the Evil Spirit. It was not made by me, but by the Americans. It is poison. It makes you sick. It burns your insides."

Tenskawatawa, brother of Tecumseh

"O my children! my poor children!

Listen to the words of wisdom,

Listen to the words of warning,

From the lips of the Great Spirit,

From the Master of Life, who made you!

"I have given you lands to hunt in,

I have given you streams to fish in,

I have given you bear and bison,

I have given you roe and reindeer,

I have given you brant and beaver,

Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl,

Filled the rivers full of fishes:

Why then are you not contented?

Why then will you hunt each other?

"I am weary of your quarrels,

Weary of your wars and bloodshed,

Weary of your prayers for vengeance,

Of your wranglings and dissensions;

All your strength is in your union,

All your danger is in discord;

Therefore be at peace henceforward,

And as brothers live together. 

The Song of Hiawatha